Wednesday, June 10, 2009

While I was making this delicious rhubarb crisp, I had the baseball game on in the background. As I sliced the beautifully colored stalks, I wondered why, in old-school baseball lexicon, a fight between the two teams on the diamond became known as a "rhubarb?"I would be lying if I told you I've spent a lot of time searching for an answer, but a couple times a season I'll hear the broadcaster use the term, and I'll wonder to myself, "why rhubarb?" If you know, please pass it along so I can check this off my list of useless mysteries to solve before I die.

It's on there along with, "where are all the baby pigeons?" and "why doesn't San Francisco have any good radio stations?"

If you've never tried rhubarb before, this is the recipe for you. The sweet, crisp topping taking the edge off the tart, tangy fruit – both benefiting from a creamy scoop of vanilla ice cream – this is a great, old-fashion American dessert.I don't know why such a great ingredient is so under-used, sure the leaves are poisonous, but that doesn't stop us from eating other foods. I think we have a tough time with fruits you can't eat raw. You can’t snap off a rib of rhubarb in the garden and chomp away while watering the roses.

Who knows? But, what I do know is if you're looking for a great summery dessert that's supper easy, and a little unusual, you'll want to give this a try. Just make sure you make enough to go around.

You don’t want your guests getting into a fight over the last piece. Nothing wrecks a nice relaxing summer meal like a rhubarb rhubarb. Enjoy!

I'm just so excited that you're a baseball fan! Your Giants aren't doing too bad. Let me see... how did they do against the Mariners? Oh, yeah, they lost 2 out of 3 :) (I think that was a rhubarb)Your rhubarb crisp looks absolutely delightful!Jackie

I'm unclear as there appears to be a discrepancy between the way the crisp was baked and the way it was served. It looks as though the serving shown at the end of the video was an individually baked portion. If that is the case, is the baking time the same for individual portions as it would be for the larger, 2-quart version? I don't think it would be, but then, it's your recipe.

Here you go Chef,The New Dickson Baseball Dictionary defines rhubarb as 'a ruckus with the umpire(s)' or 'a fight between players or between the players and fans' and dates the first use in this sense to 1943. The term was popularized by the baseball broadcaster Red Barber, who got it either from Brooklyn-born sportswriter Garry Schumacher or from Tom Meany, another sportswriter, who said he had picked it up in a bar in Brooklyn in the late 1930s. There are a couple of variations on the theory of the Brooklyn origin, some more far-fetched than others (among them, messy rhubarb sandwiches that kids in Greenpoint threw at each other and bitter rhubarb tonic that the loser of a barroom brawl was forced to drink).

Oh my God that looks good. Strawberry rhubarb pie is my most favourite desert in the entire world. You may now have given it a run for the money. Wow that looks good and has sentenced several stalks of rhubarb to an untimely demise. If only the local strawberries were ripe.

I stayed in a catered hall of residence in England when I was there for college and developed a wincing butt cringing hatred for rhubarb which Ive been trying to shake off ever since. I had never eaten anything so sour before and even the chalk-like excuse for custard didnt help much.

Made this recipe tonight... it was really good. Only thing I'll do different next time is make sure to use regular oats instead of the instant oats we had. But the rhubarb was perfect! Just the right amount of tart and sweet. Really excellent with the icecream. Thanks Chef John!

JUST harvested a ton of rhubarb from the garden yesterday and thought I'd search on here for a recipe. You didn't fail me! So going to make this today! By the way, when I was a child, I would often grab a stock of rhubarb from our front garden on the way home from school, wash it up and eat it raw, accompanied by a small bowl or glass with brown sugar. Oh yeah!!!

I've made this crisp twice in the past couple weeks, and if Chef will forgive me, I made some tweaks I'd like to recommend:

— I'm from the midwest, and I've always been on the "only rhubarb!" train, but I think I've finally come around to the idea that it benefits from *some* sort of companion to moderate the tartness. I must be getting old. Instead of strawberries, I used a cup of mango cubes (basically one mango's worth). Big thumbs up. The mango added a nice mellow sweetness, as well as a little visual interest. If you try it, this may be a great use for a mango that's not quite ripe enough for eating.

— Speaking of the fruit, I found that in my 2Q baking dish the fruit layer was a bit too shallow. To remedy this, I added an extra cup, and cut it into a mix of big and small chunks. This worked well, and the result was a deeper fruit layer with a bit more texture.

— I threw a pinch of salt into the fruit.

— Last, but not least, I increased the topping by 50%. (I also added a handful of shredded, unsweetened coconut, but I'm not sure it contributed much.)

— After all that, it needed an extra 5-10 minutes in the oven.

Anyway — my way or the Chef's way, this is a super simple and easy dessert. Lovely!